I spy with my little eye something beginning with ‘q’. Quadrilateral perhaps? Quotient maybe? Quadrant? No, it’s “queue”. I normally hate queues, but there’s one type I don’t mind and that’s the line of children outside my classroom waiting to get into maths club. Every Wednesday it’s the same - eager faces peer in like greyhounds in their traps, waiting for the door to open. Imagine that.
Maths clubs come in all shapes and sizes and there is no one model that works for every school. But every school should have one. They raise the profile of maths within the school, increase the children’s engagement in the subject and help show that maths is a playful and diverse subject that is full of surprises.
Maths clubs allow you to take off your curriculum straitjacket and work flexibly and creatively. You can plan a varied diet of activities, from games, puzzles, quizzes and investigations to maths trails, problem solving, podcasting and videoconferencing.
Children of all ages and abilities should be encouraged to join a maths club in order to experience learning in different ways alongside children from other year groups. This helps children share ideas and strategies and cultivates their mathematical development
John Dabell is a numeracy consultant and teacher trainer
